ABSTRACT
Guidance for recognizing and teaching empathic collaboration is detailed in supervisory manuals for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and other health professionals; this chapter is the first to address this guidance for sex therapy supervisors. This chapter identifies eight key teachable elements for practicing the focused, multilevel attention that sets the stage for empathy and collaboration in sex therapy supervision and with clients: creating safe space, clarifying intentions, setting clear boundaries, engaging rather than diagnosing and treating, establishing a language of trust, modeling flexibility, acknowledging physical presence, recognizing countertransference issues when they arise, and understanding when empathy is contraindicated as a therapeutic strategy. The author’s 4-Dimensional Wheel approach for sex therapy provides a practical model for empathic collaboration with both supervisees and clients. The dimensions of the Wheel invite clients to explore the contexts of their issues and their lives, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual; the core dynamics of the 4-D approach engage clients through ritual, movement, and concretizing abstract concepts. Two case studies demonstrate how the 4-D Wheel can function as a clinical and supervisory GPS for supervisors, therapists, and clients.
